SC-01 USS Carl Sagan II

[Gemini]

Anyway the Backstory:
In 2029, project Orion is coming to a close, soon to be replaced by a new series of exploration vehicle. The first of these is the Langley class:
USS Duct tape LC-05

http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...nt=LC09III.jpg
Shortly followed by the Northrop class:
http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...=Northrop3.jpg

The Starclipper project, NASA classification Sagan Class, began in 2032 and culminated in the launch of the USS Carl Sagan XC-05 in 2036. However, that ship was destroyed in an attemp to prevent in from being stolen by mysterious hijackers in 2039 by the USS Ducktape. THe second ship to bear the name was the first production Starclipper to be purchased by NASA was launched in 2041. The Sagan is one of two NASA variants of the design to bear the white paint scheme, the other being the SC-02 USS Neil DeGrasse Tyson. The others were painted in a bit more drab gray on gray scheme.

I'll add more to this later, but here is a teaser pic of the ship. It still needs some additional painting and its auxiliary craft mounted(shuttle, dropship, lifeboats, etc).
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j240/OV-104/SC-01.jpg

[Swift]

I'll add more to this later, but here is a teaser pic of the ship. It still needs some additional painting and its auxiliary craft mounted(shuttle, dropship, lifeboats, etc).
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j240/OV-104/SC-01.jpg

I assume the green and silver cylinder is a fuel tanker, loading propellent on board.

[KaiYeves]

Cool beans! I've never made models of vehicles from my stories... but I did make mission patches once. Maybe I'll scan those.

[Neverfly]

I assume the green and silver cylinder is a fuel tanker, loading propellent on board.

I have observed that rocket fuel used on humans. Very effective.

[Romanus]

Paper and plastic? Are you trying to bankrupt the space program?

Time for belt-tightening, people.

[Gemini]

Paper and plastic? Are you trying to bankrupt the space program?

Time for belt-tightening, people.

Paper,

[Gemini]

It's almost ready to leave the Mountain Dew Orbital Construction Facility .
Anyway a little bit about the ship itself:
Main propulsion is provided by an Orion nuclear drive (the large box-like section is bomb storage); the orbital manuevering engines are deriverd from the Ares I upper stage. The main crew space consists of eight cylinders, designed to be launched two at a time by an Ares 6 or Sea Dragon rocket . The top two contain various science labs and various other equipment. The two on each side in the rear contain the main life support while the two in the front house counter rotating centrifuges that provide artificial gravity for the crew quarters . THe nose section houses all command and control personel. This section also has the ability to separate and land on its own via a paraglider.

Notable variants include;
US- Sagan Class
SC-01 Carl Sagan
SC-02 Neil Degrasse Tyson
SC-03 America
SC-04 Republic (destroyed 2045)
SC-05 Duct Tape (Destroyed 2045, rebuilt 2047)

ESA- Hawking Class
HC-01 Stephen Hawking
HC-02 Sir Patrick Moore
HC-03 Sir Arthur C Clarke

Russia- Leonov Class
LC-01 Alexi Leonov

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...4/SC-01III.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...04/SC-01II.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...104/SC-01I.jpg


All for now.

[mugaliens]

Back when I was doing graduate work (in that I needed to work in order to graduate), we experimented with using the VHIID* system on cellulitic environmental maintenance systems**. Our vehicles often maintained their relatively spherical shapes even under accelerations in excess of 100 Gs.

*Very High Impulse Impact Drive, part of the Wide Intake Force-Feed Longitudinal Energy system
**The maintained both shelter and relative humidity for thousands of pyroglyphidae.